Wednesday Night Stuff

A few things on this chilly Wednesday night…

• Like many, I was a little surprised that the Sea Dogs didn’t get a bit more for Ryan Tesink. But, I’m assuming getting their first-round pick back was one of Saint John’s priorities and perhaps this deal was the only one they could work out. Either way, it’s still good value since the Dogs will likely be picking in the top-five of this year’s draft.
• TVA Sports’ Mikael Lalancette reports that this Tesink deal is final. There will be no compensation for anything next year.
• The Sea Dogs don’t play the Armada again in the regular season although a first-round playoff matchup is certainly a possibility.
• Saint John having their first-round pick back definitely makes a season like this one more bearable.
• With Tesink gone and Jonathan Huberdeau very like gone, the Sea Dogs don’t have any NHL drafted players on their roster.
• And with Huberdeau very likely going somewhere and Tesink and Kevin Gagne traded, Stephen MacAulay is currently the Sea Dogs leading scoring with 33 points in 33 games.
• Was pleasantly surprised at how much value the Sea Dogs got for Aidan Kelly. That could prove to be a good trade for both teams.
• It’ll be weird not seeing any “Kelly” on the Sea Dogs roster for the first time in a long time. The three behind the bench will have to do.
• Trade deadline is on January 8 at 1pm Atlantic.
• With so many lineup changes, the Sea Dogs will probably be selling a lot of game day programs over the next few weeks.
• For those that missed it, News 88.9 reported a few days ago that Michael Mastrangelo, Ryan Kelly, and Jason Seed have all been removed from the Sea Dogs roster.
• Canada vs USA tomorrow at 5am in the world junior semi-final. Buckle up.

The Sea Dogs are back in action on Friday night in Halifax. They host the PEI Rocket on Saturday night at 7pm at Harbour Station.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

VIDEO: Farewell Tesink And Kelly

SeaDogsTV has uploaded a couple highlight videos of Ryan Tesink and Aidan Kelly. The two were traded to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and Acadie-Bathurst Titan today, respectively.

Aidan Kelly Traded To Bathurst

Just a few hours after announcing 19-year old Saint John native Ryan Tesink had been traded, the Saint John Sea Dogs made another move involving a 19-year old Saint Johner.

The Sea Dogs have traded forward Aidan Kelly to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in exchange for 17-year old defenseman Jeremy Doucet.

Kelly was selected by Saint John in the second-round of the 2009 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Entry Draft. This is his fourth year with the Sea Dogs and has two goals and eight assists 35 games after recording 32 points in 61 games last season.

Kelly has not produced like many thought he would this season and a change of scenery may be good for him. It’ll be interesting to see how he does with the Titan.

“Aidan has been a pleasure to work with over his three-plus years in Saint John,” said Sea Dogs head coach and General Manager Mike Kelly in a release. “He has done everything we have asked of him while he has been with us.  He has been an excellent teammate and a versatile forward who was an important piece of our successful teams over the past three years.”

Doucet, a fifth-round pick of the Titan last June, has two assists in 18 games this year. He’s a Dieppe native and is listed at six-foot, 200-pounds.

“It is tough to say goodbye to players like Aidan but we hope he has an opportunity to play an important role for his new team and we will be getting a young defenseman in Doucet that competes hard and hopefully become an important part of our success in the future,” Kelly said.

The Titan sit fifth in the Telus Maritimes Division and 14^th overall in the league with a 14-20-4-1 record. They sit one-point back of the Sea Dogs in the standing and have played two fewer games.

Bathurst plays Saint John three more times this season. They meet in Bathurst on February 8 and on March 2 and in Saint John on March 8. The Titan take on the PEI Rocket in Charlottetown tomorrow.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

Tesink Traded To Armada

Ryan Tesink has been traded to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.

News of the trade broke this morning via Twitter and has since been made official. In exchange, the Saint John Sea Dogs get their 2013 first-round pick back that was traded to the Armada in the Charles-Olivier Roussel deal.

Tesink, a first-round pick of the Sea Dogs in the 2010 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Entry Draft, has played a key role with Saint John over the past few seasons. He’ll be a valuable part of the Armada who are looking to make a President Cup run.

“Ryan has been one of our most competitive players over the past three years,” said Sea Dogs head coach and General Manager Mike Kelly in a release. “He is one of those players that plays his best when the games mean the most. That has been more than evident here in that he has been a central part of our team winning two President Cups and a Memorial Cup.

“Even as a 17 year old, Ryan made a significant impact toward our success, and as a 19 year old his leadership will be missed,” Kelly added. “I have no doubt that he will also have a positive effect on his new team and teammates in the second part of the season. We wish Ryan all the best and will always be grateful to him for all he has done for the Saint John Sea Dog organization and we will always share fond memories.”

The 19-year old Saint John native is currently the Sea Dogs’ second leading scoring with 38 points in 35 games this season. You have to wonder if the trading period has hurt his game a bit over the past few weeks as he has just one point in his last five contests.

His Saint John career has many memorable moments, the highlight probably being his double-overtime goal in Game 4 of the 2011 President Cup final in Gatineau.

Tesink was selected in the sixth round of the 2011 NHL Draft by the St. Louis Blues.

This is the second major deal Saint John has made since the trading period opened. They also acquired a first-round pick in the deal that sent Kevin Gagne to the Rimouski Oceanic.

The Armada are 0-4-0-1 in their last five games and have slid to sixth overall in the league standings with a 22-10-1-4 record. They host the Sherbrooke Phoenix tomorrow night.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

WJC/U-17 Update

WORLD JUNIORS

The United States beat the Czech Republic 7-0 this morning at the World Junior Hockey Championship. The US advances to the semi-finals where they will play Canada tomorrow morning at 5am Atlantic.

The winner of today’s Russia-Switzerland game will play Sweden in the other semi-final.

After the round-robin portion of the world juniors, Jonathan Huberdeau sat third in tournament scoring with seven points (two goals and five assists) in four games. He had a goal and eight assists in six games with Team Canada last year.

FINAL: Quebec 3, Slovakia 2

PEI Rocket rookie forward Alexis Pepin scored twice and added an assist as Team Quebec edged Slovakia 3-2 at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge yesterday in Drummondville.

Quebec led 2-0 after one but Slovakia tied it up at 10:48 of the third period. Less than 30 seconds later, Pepin scored the eventual game winner to make it a 3-2 final.

Sea Dogs defenseman Olivier LeBlanc was left off the score sheet.

Quebec plays their final game of the preliminary round tonight at 8:30pm against Ontario.

FINAL: Atlantic 1, Ontario 11

Team Atlantic wrapped up their preliminary round schedule on a rough note, losing 11-1 to powerhouse Ontario.

It was 2-1 Ontario near the midway mark of the second period and then they broke it open. Ontario scored four goals in the frame and added another five in the third period to win 11-1. Team Atlantic took seven penalties and a misconduct in the second period.

Acadie-Bathurst Titan goaltender Mason McDonald, although he didn’t pay the entire game, was named Team Atlantic’s player of the game. Ontario out shot Atlantic 60-13 overall.

Sea Dogs forward Matthew Highmore was held off the score sheet on Tuesday.

POSTSCRIPT: Wildcats 1, Sea Dogs 3

A collection of recaps from last night’s 3-1 Saint John Sea Dogs win over the Moncton Wildcats…

Our recap. After a cancelled game in Moncton yesterday, Saint John hosted the Wildcats on New Year's Eve at Harbour Station.

The Telegraph-Journal’s recap (paywall). A line of former Fredericton midget players took care of the scoring and Sebastien Auger provided outstanding goaltending as the Saint John Sea Dogs defeated the Moncton Wildcats 3-1 in front of 5,330 fans on New Year’s Eve at Harbour Station.

The Times & Transcript’s recap (paywall). The Moncton Wildcats finished 2012 in total frustration.

News 88.9’s recap. Featuring Tim Roszell’s goal calls.

The Canadian Press’ recap. Noah Zilbert scored a hat trick and Sebastien Auger made 48 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs beat the Moncton Wildcats 3-1 in Monday's lone Quebec Major Junior Hockey Game.

SaintJohnSeaDogs.com’s recap. The Saint John Sea Dogs and Moncton Wildcats met on New Year’s Eve at Harbour Station in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action Monday night. The Sea Dogs came out on top with a 3-1 decision in front of 5,330 fans.

Moncton-Wildcats.com’s recap. Try as they might, but the Moncton Wildcats could not solve Seadog  goaltender Sebastien Auger, the result a 3-1 loss in Saint John  on New Year’s Eve.

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without Jonathan Huberdeau (World Juniors – Team Canada), Matthew Highmore (World Under-17 Hockey Challenge – Team Atlantic), Olivier LeBlanc (World Under-17 – Team Quebec), Jurij Repe (broken hand), David Weckworth (lower body), and Andreas Tsogkas (healthy).